Traditionally, when temperatures approach freezing, locomotives are left idling to keep their diesel engines heated, to both prevent damage from freezing and to facilitate a re-start. This includes keeping locomotives running over entire weekends, or in some cases, even longer periods of time, as necessary. If the diesel engines are not kept warm, the engine blocks may crack from freezing, or the locomotive may not be able to start properly. Even while idling, diesel engines consume a substantial amount of fuel, especially in the case of large locomotive engines. Moreover, the rising costs of diesel and other fuels, along with trends towards making products more eco-friendly, have drastically increased the desirability of reducing fuel consumption whenever possible. Therefore, auxiliary warming systems have been known in the art that connect to the coolant system of the engine, heat the coolant, and subsequently pump the coolant throughout the coolant system.
Unfortunately, locomotives are not designed to accommodate auxiliary systems; therefore there is limited space to install such systems in current locomotives. If an auxiliary system is installed in a small space, or in a space surrounded by other locomotive components, access may be limited to the elements included in the auxiliary system. This will significantly hinder any maintenance or other repair work that must be done on the auxiliary system. Furthermore, the installation can be quite difficult since coolant, fuel, oil, and other supply lines must connect between the locomotive and the engine warming systems. Standard inputs and outputs on fuel tanks, coolant heaters, auxiliary engines and the like may not be appropriately sized to connect to the corresponding systems and components in the locomotive, but instead may require special fittings or adaptors. Thus, it is currently quite cumbersome, time consuming, and therefore costly to install an engine warming system in a diesel locomotive.
Thus, what is needed is an auxiliary engine warming system for locomotives that can fit into the space available on a locomotive proximate to the locomotive's engine, install quickly and easily into the locomotive, and provide an operator with sufficient access to all components of the engine warming system for maintenance or other repairs.